"In every generation, one female descendant of the witch who cursed us bears that mark. "
I didn't recall any witches on my family tree, but that didn't mean they weren't there.
"Rhiannon had many children, with many different men. Her descendants spread all over the globe. We traced them as best we could, but the records from that time aren't that good. We've been trying to find one who bears the mark for hundreds of years. "
I glanced at Mal, who still glared at Sabina. "He's been seducing women for centuries to get a look at their breasts?"
Sabina shrugged, which I took as a yes.
I don't know why the thought of Mal screwing his way through the centuries bothered me. It wasn't as if we were going to get married and live happily ever after.
"You've never found a single descendant who bears the mark until me?"
"Poor timing appears to be a hallmark of the curse. "
"Sabina," Mal murmured. "Why are you doing this? You were such a sweet child. Now you're almost. . . evil. " He said the last word as if it were a revelation.
"Took you long enough to catch on, ruvanush. " Sabina tossed the swastika-marked rune into the air.
"I don't understand," I said. "You're a snake. "
"As long as I have this, I can become a wolf. " She stopped tossing the rune and rolled it between her fingers. "I am reborn. "
"How does it work?" I asked.
"Under the moon I hold the rune; I say an incantation, and I become a wolf. "
"That's it?"
She shrugged. "I feed the swastika with the blood of the pure. "
"Feed it. " My lip curled.
"Trace the outline. "
"So it isn't red paint. "
She merely raised an eyebrow. There had always been something creepy about that rune.
"How long have you been moonlighting as a werewolf?"
&
nbsp; "A week. " She stretched sinuously, still more snake-like than canine. "God, I love it. "
"Why now? Why here?"
"The tree. "
We'd kind of figured that, too.
"To make a rune of such power, I needed a tree that was as old as these hills, one that had stood the test of fire beneath the moon. "
I remembered the long black lightning mark on the trunk.
"I wasn't sure it would work, but there's power there - the storm, the earth and sky. Magic. Now everything's going to be all right. "
For her, anyway. My life appeared kind of dim.